Corn sheller



July 28, 1942. L. H, SPONSELLER CORN SHELLER Filed Aug. 3, 1940 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented July 28, 1942 r UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CORN SHELLER.

Leo H. Sponseller, Goshen, Ind. Application August 3, 1940, Serial No. 350,472

1 Claim. (C1. 130--6) My invention relates to devices of the kind known as cylinder shellers, customarily used for shelling corn.

More particularly, my invention relates to the provision in a cylinder sheller, of a cob discharge opening in the periphery of the cylinder, rather than in the end plate as usually made. Further, the invention relates to the provision of a rotor or shelling head which has an eccentric surface with respect to the axis of the shaft on which it is mounted.

It is an object of my invention to provide a corn sheller with greater capacity than previous types of shellers in corresponding sizes.

It is a further object to provide a machine which is relatively free from the inconveniences of clogging and jamming common to other types, and which will do a clean job of shelling in corn of varying quality.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of a corn sheller embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1.

In the drawing I have used the reference numeral H! to indicate a supporting frame, which may be of angle iron or of any other suitable material. Supported by the frame members I are end plates [2, in which a shaft I4 is journalled. The shaft carries a cylinder IS on the surface of which are radially projecting studs [8. The end plates l2 support a perforated plate or screen member 20 beneath the cylinder l6, and a cover plate 22 above the cylinder.

Adjacent one end plate l2, at one end of the cylinder 18, the top plate 22 is provided. with an opening on which is fitted afeed hopper 24 through which ear corn may be introduced into the casing formed by the end plates I2, the screen 20 and the cover plate 22.

At the opposite end of the cover plate 22 I provide an outlet opening 26 for the discharge of cobs. A plate 28, curving to conform to the top plate 22 is slidably mounted relative to the opening 26, and may be clamped by the wing nut 30 to regulate the clear portion of the opening.

Above the discharge opening 26 I provide a hood indicated generally as 32. It consists of and a hanging door or damper 38 pivoted at 40.

In the operation of my machine, ear corn is fed into the hopper 24. The cylinder I6 is rotated rapidly by a pulley 42 driven by a belt 44 from any suitable source of power. The ear corn is engaged violently by the projections I 8 on the cylinder, and the kernels are removed, and drop through the screen 20 into the funnel-shaped receiving pan 46 beenath.

The studs [8 are preferably disposed spirally or helically along the surface of the cylinder, so that they function much like a screw or an auger in advancing material in an axial direction inside the housing. During this axial advancement, the shelling process continues until the cobs reach the end of the cylinder at the right in Figure 1. They are then thrown out through the discharge opening 26, and deflected by the curved top 36 so that they fall on the inclined riddle or screen 48. This screen is constantly vibrated in a trans verse direction, as is well known in the art, and sifts out any kernels which may be thrown out with the cobs, returning the kernels, by way of the chute 50, back into the receiving pan 46.

Vibration of the screen 48 is accomplished by mounting one end of it on a block 49, which fits over an eccentric portion 5| on the end of shaft l4. The outer end of the screen is supported by rods 53 attached to the frame. These rods are flexible, so that while supporting the outer end of the screen, they offer no substantial impedance to its transverse vibration.

The particular feature of my invention which I wish here to emphasize is the provision of the cob discharge opening in the top of the cover plate. Corn shellers of the prior art, insofar as I am aware, have been made with the cob discharge opening in the end plate. In such a construction, proper discharge of the cobs, together with the husks and other foreign matter which accumulates, depends upon axial movement of this matter, which is readily impeded when the machine becomes clogged or is overloaded.

side wall members 34, a curved top member 36, 55

With my form of discharge the movement of the cobs is in a radial direction, which is very simple in view of the fact that a large amount of centrifugal force is imparted to the cobs by the rapid rotation of the cylinder 16. The force necessary for end discharge, on the other hand, necessarily depends upon the auger action of the studs l8, which is by no means positive.

As indicated above, it is important to have a positive discharge, and one which is not easily clogged up by an excess of huskswhen poorly husked corn is being shelled; my device meets 2 ass ila these requirements. It is equally important, however, that the cobs shall not be discharged too freely, i. e., before they have been completely shelled. Here again the discharge outlet which requires that the cobs must move upwardly to come out of the casing, has distinct advantages. It is well known that the components of a heterogenous mass tend to segregate when the mass is vibrated, the elements of least density tending to come to the top. It will also be appreciated that most of the weight in ear corn is in the kernels, the cob being relatively pithy and of less density. The husks, too, of course, are light. Consequently, the husks and completely shelled cobs tend to float in the mass of material. When, under the combined head of ear com in the elevated hopper 24 and the auger action of the studs IS, a pressure is built up at the right end of the machine as seen in Figure 1, the lightest elements are the ones which rise through the discharge opening.

As long as cobs have the heavy kernels on them, they tend to fall lower in the casing, until the kernels are threshed ofi.

Some degree of control or adjustability is necessary, because the ease with which corn can be shelled depends upon its wetness or dryness, the amount of husks, etc. The plate 28 provides this adjustment. The holes in the plate through which the 'bolts for the wing nuts 30 pass, are elongated so that when the nuts are loosened the plate can be moved to the right or left, as viewed in Figure 1, to decrease or increase the size of the outlet opening.

When the corn is slow or hard to shell, so that some cars are discharged with kernels still on them, the size of the opening is reduced, so that cars will not be discharged as freely, but will be retained in the shelling cylinder for a longer time.

Another feature of my invention is the pro'- vision of the hinged door or damper plate 38 against whichthe cobs impinge when they are thrown out. The excess energy of the cobs is thus absorbed, but the door can swing open on its pivot 40 so that the outlet is not obstructed when a large number of cobs are thrown out in a short time.

A further aspect of my invention lies in making the cylinder 16 with its surface eccentric with respect to the axis of the shaft H on which the cylinder is mounted. I have found that a corn sheller with an eccentric cylinder of this character has much higher capacity than a machine of similar size and characteristics, but with a symmetrically mounted cylinder. The reason for this is not fully known, but is presumed to lie in the greater agitation of the corn cobs which occurs when the eccentric cylinder is rotated.

To avoid excessive vibration, which would soon destroy a machine at the speeds required for satisfactory operation, I construct the cylinder with an increased thickness of material in the portion of the wall where the radius is least. This is shown, somewhat exaggerated, in Figure 2. The figure shows the center line through the axis of the shaft I4. The eccentric mounting of the cylinder is such that in Figure 2 the cylinder is displaced downwardly, the axis of its outer surface being below the axis of the shaft. The portions above the center line, however, are made with relatively thicker wall sections, and the additional weight of material thus provided balances the thinner portions, of greater radii, below the center line. I thus obtain a cylinder with an eccentric outer surface, which will run quite smoothly for all practical purposes.

The variation in wall thickness can be ob tained, in a cast cylinder, by offsetting the sand core used to form the hollow interior of the cylinder. 7 V

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it my intention to cover by my claim any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

A device of the class described comprising a casing, a sheller head rotatably mounted therein, means for introducing corn into said casing through which cobs are expelled by radial movement, and a cob outlet at one end of said casing, the outer surface of said sheller head being eccentric with respect to its axis of rotation, and the material of said sheller head being distributed with respect to said axis so that the head is substantially in balance.

LEO H. SPONSELLER. 

